BOARD POLICY 310

310         -     Educational Goals

A.     Basic Skills

Schools should explore and implement the best possible ways for students to acquire and apply fundamental skills necessary to learning.

It is the goal of the District that the students:

1.   Comprehend ideas and facts through reading, viewing, and listening. Services for reading problems shall be available in the primary grades.

2.   Communicate ideas and facts through writing and speaking.

3.   Use the processes of language, science, and mathematics.

4.   Perform psychomotor (mental-physical) activities necessary to learning.

5.   Use problem-solving techniques and processes used in decisionmaking.

B.      Human Relations

Schools shall provide an environment where students, all school personnel, and other community members interrelate to seek understanding, appreciation, respect, and concern for all human beings.

It is the goal of the District that the students:

1.   Desire to contribute to the well-being of society in all areas of their lives and place a higher value on people than things.

2.   Understand and appreciate the value systems, cultures, customs, and history of their own heritage as well as those of others.

3.   Appreciate art, crafts, music, literature, and dramatic forms and their place in historical and cultural heritage of this and other nations.

4.   Possess the skills and attitudes necessary to assure the continuing development of:

a.   Respect for the rights of one’s self and others.

b.   The ability to form satisfying and responsible relationships with a wide variety of people.

c.   Skill in group relations.

d.   The ability to initiate and maintain personal friendships.

e.   A recognition of the political, social, and cultural interdependence among people of the world.                                   

f.    An understanding of the various domestic and international lifestyles.

g.   The ability to manage conflicts in values.

h.   Respect for the work efforts of themselves and all others.

C.      Self-Realization

The individual should develop a positive self-image within the context of the individual’s own heritage and within the larger context of the total society.

It is the goal of the District that the students:

1.   Understand, appreciate, and respect themselves.

2.   Recognize their strengths and limitations in setting personal goals.

3.   Develop their interests and potentials in order to achieve those personal goals.

4.   Have insight into their own value structure and how values affect their lives and relationships with others.

D.     Mental and Physical Health

Schools will provide opportunities for students to develop self-concepts and physical skills in accordance with their potential.

It is the goal of the District that the students:

1.   Have knowledge of the basic physical and mental health factors necessary for their optimum growth and development.

2.   Understand the emotional and social aspects of human sexuality.

3.   Understand the interrelationship of mental and physical health.

4.   Have an awareness of and an incentive to use community resources essential to assure their optimum mental and physical health.

5.   Have the experience and skills necessary for the creative use of leisure time.

6.   Demonstrate knowledge, use and appreciation of safety principals, concepts, and practices.

7.   Possess knowledge concerning the various body systems and how they are affected by dietary habits, physical and mental activity, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and poisons.

E.      Career Education

Schools shall offer students an education that prepares them for lifelong learning and changes in their future occupation.

It is the goal of the District that the students:

1.   Respect all occupations and have the desire to pursue a satisfying vocation.

2.   Acquire a knowledge and understanding of opportunities open to them for preparing for a productive life.

3.   Develop those occupational competencies consistent with their interests, aptitudes, and abilities which are prerequisite to entry and advancement in the work place and/or academic preparation for acquisition of technical or professional skills through post high school training.

F.      Fine Arts

Students shall have opportunities to learn about various cultures, deepen their appreciation of their own heritage, and have the opportunities to express themselves in a variety of artistic ways.

It is the goal of the District that the students:

1.   Demonstrate an awareness of the importance and use of cultural and recreational facilities in their community.

2.   Appreciate art, crafts, music, literature, and dramatic forms.

3.   Have the experience and skills necessary for participating in art, crafts, music, literature, and dramatic forms.

G.      Lifelong Learning

Students shall be prepared for lifelong learning.

It is the goal of the District that the students:

1.   Respond to the needs and opportunities to learn in a dynamic social, economic, and political environment.

2.   Continue self development.

H.     Citizenship and Political Understanding

Citizenship is an individual’s response to membership in society. The total school experience shall offer opportunities for students to learn and practice their roles, rights, and responsibilities as a citizen.

It is the goal of the District that the students:

1.   Understand the structure, governance, and governmental heritage of society (communities, state, national, world).

2.   Understand the importance of effective participation in fulfilling their obligation to society.

3.   Develop the skills to participate in a democratic society.

I.       Economic Understanding

Students shall understand those factors that affect their own economic condition and the economic condition of the world community.

Students shall participate in the economy as a consumer and producer of goods and services.

It is the goal of the District that the students:

1.   Learn to evaluate their needs, match products to needs, and effectively use products and natural resources.

2.   Understand the various systems of production and distribution, responsibility of the individual in these systems, and the ways in which these systems influence the lives of people.

3.   Understand the relationship between individual consumption of goods and the effect on the environment.

4.   Understand the process of obtaining employment, planning and budgeting personal income, saving and investing, and financing major purchases.

5.   Be aware of the agencies which assist and protect consumers.

6.   Be aware of national and international business organizations, monetary systems, and the effects of government on their economies.

J.       Physical Environment

Schools shall provide experiences leading to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will enable society to develop a balanced use of natural resources that recognizes the concurrent rights of present and future generations.

It is the goal of the District that the students:

1.   Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the social, physical, and biological worlds and the balance between man and his environment.

2.   Develop attitudes and behaviors leading to the appreciation, maintenance, protection, and improvement of the physical environment.

K.     Creative, Constructive, and Critical Thinking

The school shall provide an environment where students can develop skills of thinking and where experiences can be examined and integrated.

It is the goal of the District that the students:

1.   Deal effectively with situations which are new to their experiences.

2.   Think and act in an independent, self-fulfilling way while maintaining a considerate and responsible manner toward others.

3.   Demonstrate the skills in the logical processes of search, analysis, evaluation, and abstract thinking.

Legal Ref.:     Sections 118.01 and 121.02(1), Wisconsin Statutes

Approved:      May 15, 1997